Nightmares
by Jimaine
Summary: There's a Muggle in Hogwarts! Making friends with gryphons, Neville, teaching the new band class, and finding her way around a school with moving staircases is all Kat needs after being captured by the Dark Side. PG-13 for a reason!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything to do with him and I'm certainly not making any money! And if you still decide to sue me, all you'll get is a few gerbils and a watch for the thousands you spent on a lawyer.

Authors Note: If you have any warmth in your heart, please review this when you read it! I HATE not knowing what people think of my writing! So, flame away if you wish, but TELL ME!!

**Prologue**

"Where was she found?"

"709 Star court."

"The rest of the family?"

"Dead."

The Dark Lord's face slowly melted from thoughtful to malicious, his slit-pupil eyes burning gleefully.

"Master? What are your humble servants to do with her?"

Lord Voldemort turned his evil grin on the cowering, once-human Death Eater before him. "We're going to keep her . . ."

He threw back his almost serpentine head and laughed, the nails-on-chalkboard sound screeching through the air. 

The Death Eater shuddered.


	2. Moving Staircases

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Harry Potter (except unremarkable copies of all four books), and am making no money off this, so you can't sue me. 'Cause all you'll get is the books and a gerbil.

Authors Note: Review. If you even think about maybe reading this story, review. There's a nice box at the bottom of the page, set up all nicely for you to tell the author what you think of the story, it makes things really easy for you. So, even if you flame, review. I may end up with a singed tail - but if I'm going to burn my tail feathers off, I at least want to know about it, hey? So, good or bad, _use_ the box at the bottom of the page. Please?

  
  


Chapter One

"Where was she found?"

It was the same question that had been asked of the same girl over six months ago, only this time the party doing the asking was considerably more compassionate. The elderly man in long purple wizard robes paced before _his_ informant, a man who appeared to be in this mid-thirties. 

Albus Dumbledore was pacing in front of Remus Lupin, Headmaster before his one-time student - and known werewolf. Dumbledore showed no fear concerning the latter fact, however, he was mostly worried about this particularly unique problem that they were faced with. "Are you certain she knows all about the wizarding world, Remus?"

Lupin shook his head. "She knows so much about it that she wasn't even startled when Siris transformed back into a person. And we can't afford to put a Memory Charm on her, not yet. She knows too much about the other side to risk losing."

Dumbledore shook his head so hard that even the end of his long white beard was bouncing back and fourth. "Oh, I had not even considered that they might let any that got into their hands live . . . What are we going to do with her, Remus? Can she stay with you?"

"Too risky," Lupin answered. "If they raid our place to get her back, or just for us, what she knows is far too valuable. About our side and theirs. To tell the truth, the only place that I can think of that I'd put her is Gringotts. Or - Hogwarts . . ." Remus let his voice trail off, and Dumbledore whipped his head around and they stared at each other. "Dumbledore, would it work? Can we hide her here?"

Sinking into a chair, Dumbledore was muttering to himself, debating. "Maybe. I think that Hogwarts has enough protections on it to stop any Death Eaters who try to get onto the grounds, but there is another problem. We wouldn't be able to keep her existence here a secret. The students . . ."

Lupin swore, creatively. "We'll never be able to keep them from finding out. Especially Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They seem always to know when the school is hiding something. They have a talent for it."

"They do, don't they? Harry seems to have gotten a little much of his father -"

"Ah, don't underestimate Lily, Headmaster. She had her fair share of scrapes with the rest of us," Remus smiled, remember his days in Hogwarts, when the biggest trouble on his mind was how he was going to manage the exams when James and Siris had dragged him off on another fool adventure. _Those days, the existence of a Head Boy we'd never met didn't bother us. But that Head Boy - Tom Marvolo Riddle - killed James. Oh, James, I'm doing my best. But Voldemort's got it in for Harry and the rest of us . . ._

Remus wrenched his thoughts off that particular bleak path. "What about that Malfoy boy? Lucius still got him going here?"

"Amazingly, he does. I think Malfoy's smart enough to realize how easily Voldemort could turn on his followers. I think he honestly wants to keep his son safe . . . Although you are right, the students will inevitably tell their families . . . It can't be avoided. Regardless of how many people know, this is still the safest place she can be at the moment."

"Are you sure? I mean, what are you going to do with her? She certainly can't learn magic!" Remus raised and eyebrow at Dumbledore's chuckle.

"No, she can't but all the same, I want her sitting in on classes. I'm fairly certain that she can get lessons some other way . . ." Dumbledore "hmm"-ed, and Fawkes chirped at him from his perch. Dumbledore smiled back at the brightly-plumaged phoenix. "Yes . . . Remus, bring her here. There is no safer place, and the students will get used to her if she's here by the time they start the term."

"Consider it done, Headmaster," Lupin stood quickly and made to leave.

"Oh, Remus -" Lupin turned back at Dumbledore's words. "What is her name again?"

"Kathryn Doves."

  
  


A tall, sickly-thin girl of about fifteen lay stretched out on her stomach, reading. Her long legs were waving back and forth to the obscure song she was humming, and her head was bobbing to the same tune. Her short black hair had a reddish sheen to it, and her eyes, when she looked up, were a piercing green. Her complection and face rang of Asian background, but her bright green eyes and the reddish gloss in her hair pointed to an Irishman somewhere in her lineage. Her accent, when she spoke, proved it.

"Remus! Ye're back!" she greeted the werewolf with a wave. "Siris went out to get somethin'; forgot what it was -"

"The paper, Kitten. Nothing more," Siris Black had simply twisted out of his dog form, which greatly resembled the death-watching Grim. He grimaced, spitting a wad of paper out of his mouth. "I think I swallowed part of the Sports section."

Kat put a hand over her mouth to hide her grin and stifle her laughter as he rolled his tongue around in his mouth, trying to get the ink taste out of it. "Yuck," he muttered.

"An Animagus who gets t' paper an' comes back in with part o' it stuck in his mouth," she shook her head, grinning. "Ach, what's the wizarding world comin' t'?"

"Me, I hope," Albus answered as he came in the door after Remus. The instant she noticed Dumbledore, Kathryn's eyes searched him up and down, scrutinizing him mercilessly. "You're Kathryn? Kathryn Doves?"

Two things and two things alone put Kat at ease; Siris didn't even blink when he showed up, meaning that this man _must_ know who and what he really was, and that he knew her name. "I'm Albus Dumbledore -"

"Headmaster at Hogwarts?" Kathryn interrupted. Inwardly, she sighed with relief. _The only man Voldemort ever feared, and he's standin' in the room with me! Glory!_

"Hmm. Yes, you know about Hogwarts?"

"How could I not, what with every one o' them Death Eaters mutterin' about how impenetrable it was? An' it's famous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore - more feared than Harry Potter!" Kat almost snorted. _What, did he think me deaf? I could not have _avoided_ hearin' about him and his school!_

Dumbledore and Remus exchanged a Look, and Dumbledore nodded. "Kathryn, do you know what happened to your family?"

Kat gave Dumbledore a look as deadly as a basilisks. "Aye. Dead. Every one o' them, killed by Death Eaters an' their kin. All but me."

"Even more distant relatives?" Dumbledore prodded.

Scowling darkly, Kat replied, "We were havin' a party, with family in from all over the United Kingdom. Me Mum an' Da were havin' their twentieth anniversary celebration. Even me brother, Sean, was there. Not for long, though."

Dumbledore nodded. "And I believe that those members of your family who weren't there already think you're dead. It would be quite a nasty shock to bring you back to life, unless you had someplace you felt you truly wished to go to."

"No. All of me family that was ever close t' me were there. I don't know anyone else, so it'd be like a stranger anyway."

Dumbledore nodded again, as if he had expected something of the sort. "Alright. Since no family can be produced to take you, then we have a place for you - dead set again Voldemort. How would you like to come to Hogwarts?" 

The expression on Kat face was so astonished that both Remus and Siris had to hold back great bouts of laughter. "How can I - I mean to say - Headmaster Dumbledore, how can I?" Kat's eyes widened. "I'm a **_Muggle!_**" 

  
  


Kathryn looked around the circular, five-bed dorm room that she had to herself for one last day. She had settled into Gryffindor House yesterday, and already the place felt (at least a little) like home. The place that she'd shared with Remus, Siris, and the others had been a mansion compared to what she was used to but this place . . .

It had taken her half an hour to find her way back to Gryffindor Tower after supper.

"I am going to need a guide to get around this place," she muttered, running her hand through her short black hair. "**And_ how_ do you build a staircase that goes somewhere different on a Friday!?!?!**" she yelled to the empty room. She flopped down on the four-poster bed. Her arrival at Hogwarts had caused . . . somewhat of a stir, to say the least.

_Heh. Boy, did having a Muggle in the castle scare them!_ Kat grinned as she remembered a few of the professors reactions. _Hah. Besides fright that things have gotten so bad that Dumbledore is sheltering a _Muggle_ in Hogwarts! I think that if I were an adult, they wouldn't stand for it._ Kat's grin faded. The students would be arriving tomorrow, and she though she had some idea of what to expect from them, she had no way to defend herself if one of them should try to hex her, curse her, or jinx her. She would only have to hope that _someone_ on Gryffindor would know any counter-curse, and would be willing to preform it on a Muggle. 

But then, her practical side took over, and she pulled the sheet over her, leaving the heavier blankets for winter - if she was here that long. _I will worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes._

With that in mind, she slipped into sleep, where her myriad fears were reduced to nightmares . . .


	3. Windbreath

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, etc etc etc . . . 

Authors Note: REVIEW!! If you can't possibly think of anything to tell me about, tell me about the gryphon. Just a suggestion if you're stuck. But even if you force me to bring marshmallows, **_REVIEW!!!!!_**__

Pwease?

  
  


Chapter II

It was happening again. The nightmares. The tortures that took her while she slept. She was chained to the chair. She couldn't help but think, mighty wizards reduced to chains. Such a mediaeval, _Muggle_ idea, chains. A spotlight hit her face, and she blinked, wishing she could shield her eyes against it. She didn't dare to close them . . . not while _He_ was present. One could never show weakness to evil, not even when one feels most weak. One must never show fear. One must never show any emotion besides haughty reason, and logic, and all the things Muggles had used for so long to get on without magic.

And He was there, hidden in the darkness around her. There was a sea of black around her, and she could have been atop a lonely island in the middle of the ocean, or in her own bedroom, and she'd never know. Then she would feel it, around her legs, a long, scaly body, legless and helpless in the face of her Master. The parseltongue who could speak to her could also use her, and use her he did . . . though he loved her so.

Then a hand would come out of the darkness, a pale, eerily graceful and yet graceless hand, and she fear it's touch. But touch her it did, running pointed nails gently down her cheek. The hand brushed back a bit of hair that had fallen into her eyes, almost lovingly, but Kathryn was no fool. The only love in that ones heart was for power, power over man and beast alike.

"Oh, my little toy . . ." the being attached to the hand whispered. "Little Kat. What would your Muggle psychiatrists call me, hmm? I would be willing to bet they would adore pulling me apart, bit by bit, and examining my very interesting psyche. That _is_ what they call it, isn't it? Little Kathryn, dear little Muggle . . . You have so many uses," the voice sighed, playing with her. "Foolish, foolish Dumbledore, who taught me when I was young. Tell me, young Kathryn - what often happens when student outstrips teacher?"

  
  


Kathryn gasped as she sat up in bed, covered in sweat and panting. Her ebony hair glistened in the scant moonlight that came in through the window. She never pulled back the curtains around her bed - they reminded her of a cage.

_It was only a dream, dear God, it was only a dream,_ she though frantically. "Voldemort can't get me here, and the Death Eaters can't touch me," she said firmly into the soft darkness, trying to calm her wildly beating heart. To prove it to herself, she pulled back the collar of her nightgown, and looked just below her right collarbone. 

It was the vividly colored tattoo of a King Cobra, poised to strike. 

Lord Voldemort himself had given her that, all the pain of a tattoo in a single minute as the design drew itself on her skin. When Voldemort came near, it was flushed of color, reduced to black, white, and shades of gray.

Satisfied, her heart resumed it's normal rate, and Kat looked about her. The darkness around her bed was soft, and almost feathery, so different from the shadows in her dream. The dream-darkness had been hard, and cold, and held evil, masked and obscured.

Kat settled quietly back into her pillows and watched dawn come, sleeping at last when light banished the darkness.

  
  


The singing hat was a surprise.

Kat had discreetly joined the Gryffindor table, and though a few eyes turned in her direction, no one said anything. As soon as the first-years were seated, Dumbledore stood. Kat spotted the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Ravynn Crowe, the first woman to hold the position in some years. 

"Now, this announcement will shock some of you. Because of the unusual circumstances surrounding this situation, I would require that no one ask about it," this inspired some nervous twittering, and Dumbledore waited until it died down to continue. "There is a Muggle in Hogwarts." This time, Dumbledore waited a full minute before the furor calmed down. "Kathryn Doves is to be considered a fifth-year member of Gryffindor House, and will be participating in what classes she can. If I hear of anyone harassing her, the matter will be handled personally by me."

Though stated simply, that set a few eyes a-blinking. Most of them had never thought of Dumbledore as anything besides a kindly old man. Meanwhile, Kat was desperately trying to Disapperate without the magical means to do so. The black-haired boy next to her turned and asked, "Are you -"

Kat gave him a long look, and answered, "Are ye? Yes. Kat Doves."

The boy sighed, and his red-haired neighbor poked him in the ribs. "I suppose I deserve that. I should know better." Harry Potter, for that's who it was, shook his head. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

"I know," Kat answered as the food for the Feast appeared on the table.

Kat ate as much Feast as she could, and left Ron staring when she scooped her sixth helping onto her plate. He was long since finished at three helpings. And dessert was like nothing she'd ever tasted!

The Gryffindors trooped back to the tower, everyone trying to get a look at the Muggle in their midst. When Kat stepped through the portrait hole, she was faced with a _wall_ of students, all trying to hold back their questions. She rolled her eyes and stalked right past them and down the stairs, to the girls dormitory. 

She heard anxious twittering from the common room behind her, and seconds later several girls followed her down the stairs. Kat growled, but she had figured on this happening. She lifted up the edge of her bed, and slipped under it. There was a trapdoor there, and she closed the lid above her just as a horde of girls raced into her dorm room. 

_So much for leaving me alone,_ Kat thought wryly. She opened another door in the floor to her right, and slipped out and into the hallway.

There, she found one very lost Gryffindor.

"Oh, no, not _again_," he muttered. 

"Who are ye?" Kat asked. "Aren't all the students supposed to be in our Houses?"

He looked up, startled. He had a round face with nondescript brown hair and brown eyes. Neither tall nor short, fat nor thin, he would have easily slipped into a crowd if it weren't for the fact that he practically screamed 'worthless!'. He looked like the kind of person who was always worried about something.

"Um, w-well, yes, but I'm l-l-looking for Headm-master Dumbledore," he stammered.

"What's your name?" she asked. 

"Neville," he muttered.

"C'mon," she gestured. He looked at her, startled. "Ye _do_ want ta see Dumbledore, don't ye?"

"Y-yes," Neville said slowly. "Y-you know where his office is?"

Kat gave Neville a strange look. "O' course. Doesn't everyone? Or - not?"

Now it was Neville's turn to stare at Kat. "N-no one I talked to knew," he admitted. 

"How long have ye been wandering around?" she shook her head. "Never mind. C'mon. Why're ye looking for Dumbledore anyway?"

"N-n-n-nothing," Neville stammered as best he could, and flushed. Kat shrugged.

"I was trying ta get away from me 'fan club' in the tower," she muttered. "So much for leaving me alone."

As they walked towards Dumbledores study, Neville looked askance at his guide. "W-why would you have a fan club?"

Kat blinked. "Well, I guess I can thank Dumbledore for not pointing me out, but I figured everyone would realize by now. Are ye a fifth-year Gryffindor?"

"Yes."

Kat threw out her arms in exasperation. "Meet your newest classmate - I'm the Muggle. Kathryn Doves."

"And _y-you_ know where Dumbledore's office is?"

"What is this about my office?" Dumbledore stepped out of the gargoyle, and looked back and forth between Neville and Kat. 

"I had ta get out of Gryffindor ta escape being interrogated, and I found Neville here wandering around, looking for ye. So I figured I might as well bring him here," Kat shrugged, her sable hair bouncing.

"Thank you. Now, if you'd return to Gryffindor . . ." Dumbledore motioned towards the tower House. 

"To tell the truth, Headmaster, I don't know how to get there," Kat laughed. "This place is screwy enough as it is, without everything moving around."

Dumbledore sighed, and massaged his temples. "Can you get back to Gryffindor?"

"Eventually."

"Go," he motioned her away, and Kat turned and left. She didn't know what she and Neville had interrupted, but she hoped that Dumbledore didn't frighten Neville. The poor boy seemed anxious enough as it was.

  
  


Although Kathryn had less trouble when she snuck back _into_ Gryffindor House than when she snuck out, there were still quite a few students who just _had_ to talk to her. Finally, against her will, she shut the drapes around her bed and yelled, "GOOD NIGHT!!" 

_Not even the Death Eaters were this annoying. At least they knew the whole of - or most of - what was going on!_ Kat thought as she slipped into her nightgown. _And I'm not allowed to tell _them_ what's going on!_

"Oh, go away!" came a thoroughly annoyed voice from outside the bed. "We start classes tomorrow, you know!" Kat silently blessed her unknown savior. "You can come out now," this last was obvious directed to Kat.

She peeked out of the heavy drapes, and saw that her neighbor to the left (for to her right was the window) had bushy brown hair and rational brown eyes. Kat blinked a few times; rationality was something that she had not expected in this wild world of moving staircases. "Thank ye. Vultures," she muttered.

The girl laughed. "I sort of know how you feel. Hermione Granger, at your service."

One of the other girls snorted. "She'd better be! She's the only one likely able to undo the various jinxes you'll probably get hit by."

Hermione glared at her. "True enough. I'm sure a whole flock of Slytherins are planning exactly what spells to use as we speak," Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're going to keep me on my toes, magically speaking."

Kat stared at Hermione Granger. "Ye mean that ye'd be willing ta get rid of the curses that I'm _sure_ will hmm . . . magically attack me?" 

Hermione stared at her. "Of course. Why not? After that stupid tournament last year, I probably know more than most students anyway."

"That damn thing ruined me life, ye know that? That thing gave Voldemort what he needed ta come back," she muttered darkly. "I'm not sure I should thank or condemn Harry Potter."

"_What_?!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oh, what was it - "Blood o' the enemy, forcibly taken, ye will resurrect your foe"," Kat glared. Hermione stared at her. "What, did ye think I spent all that time with me fingers in me ears? How could I not have known, with all the Death Eaters trying to remember what exactly went into the spell, so that they might be able to use it. Now, as Hermione pointed out, we start classes in the morning. Good night ta ye," Kat nodded, then turned off the light (it was magical, but didn't require any magic to actually use it). 

Although the other girls soon followed suit, it was Kat who tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position and try to deny that it wasn't sleeplessness that was keeping her awake. It was the dreams that she'd been having that were keeping her up.

Finally, though her subconscious protested, she fell asleep, and if she dreamed, she didn't remember.

  
  


Another fifth-year Gryffindor who was having considerable trouble sleeping was Neville Longbottom. His conversation with Dumbledore had been rather - disastrous. It had taken him forever to screw up the nerve to talk to the Headmaster and now . . .

_What was her name - it was two animals - cat dove! That was it, Kat Doves_, his encounter with the newest Hogwarts oddity had left him rather more surprised than usual, and although he had been quickly distracted by Dumbledore, she had remained lodged in his mind.

Then Neville remembered his schedule.

_Potions right after double Divination! Oh, no_ . . . he groaned, and with the strange girl banished from his mind, he quickly fell asleep. Had he not been so worried about today and tomorrow, he might have noticed that one of his roommates was also up late thinking.

  
  


Kat dragged herself out of her dorm room, followed closely by an annoyingly cheerful Hermione. "Are you always like this in the morning?" Kat demanded after following the bushy-haired Gryffindor halfway to the Great Hall.

Hermione, her new Arithmancy book tucked under her arm, smiled brightly at her. "Nope. You're just lucky, I guess!"

Kat growled a little and rolled her eyes. "You are an insufferable morning person, you know that?"

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at the Muggle as they continued towards the Great Hall. "Oh, not usually! I'm just happy to be back here, what with classes staring again, and . . ." Hermione's voice trailed off.

"And the Death Eater scares, I know. Trust me, I probably know better than anyone else in this entire school. And there's the Great Hall!" Kat pointed to the huge double doors. 

As soon as they entered the Great Hall, Hermione was waved over by Harry Potter and a redheaded boy whose name Kat didn't know yet. She sighed, and plopped down in the closest seat. It was a good thing the food was reasonable; otherwise Kat would have been very lonely.

What with those two empty seats on either side of her.

  
  


The first day of classes was interesting. Their very first subject was Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. As soon as Kat walked onto the grounds, every eye was on her. She spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione shaking their heads at the folly of their classmates, and Neville was still looking skeptically at her, as if she wasn't quite natural. Or in this case, supernatural.

Kat was just beginning to worry about jinxes, hexes, and curses, when Hagrid came trotting across the grounds, a magical creature next to him.

The creature was magnificent. There was no other word for it. Swept-back, well-cleaned feathers were shimmering, although how tawny brown could shimmer Kat hadn't quite figured out. Piercing, raptorial yellow eyes gleamed with intelligence, and she got the creepiest feeling that there was someone there, behind those eyes.

"This is a gryphon," Hagrid introduced, although Kat already well knew what it was. What _she_ was, although Kat couldn't have said how she knew. Though the gryphon could have snapped Hagrid's head off in less time than it took to blink, the mythological avian walked freely next to him. Feathers covered the gryphon's entire form, and despite the legends that gryphons were half eagle and half lion, this graceful creature was no cobbled-together magical mistake. She was a single, flowing beast, one sleek, impossibly beautiful creature. She was probably a full twenty feet long from beak to rump, her feather-ended tail adding another five feet or more. "Gryphons, now, gryphons're smart. Related t' the hippogriff, gryphons're nothin' like t' hippogriff."

"Oh, good," Malfoy muttered. "Maybe this one won't bite my arm off." Kat glared at the blond boy. His arm was still there, and she saw no reason to disrespect this creature. The gryphon was _very_ smart, and she respected it for both that and the fact that she was a large predator.

"Now, gryphons're telepathic, but they're more _empathic_ than anythin' else. If yeh think yeh're not afraid t' come near Windbreath 'ere, come on up. If yeh're scared, don' come any closer."

The entire class stayed put.

Then, to everyone surprise (including _hers_), Kat pushed her way to the front. The huge, unimaginably elegant predator looked down her hooked beak at the painfully thin Muggle approaching. Then she, too, did something unexpected.

_~Don't worry, Hagrid. Muggle though she may be, this one is special. Even my lesser cousin could feel it. Your name, Muggle-who-flies-with-wizards?~_

"Uh - Kat, Lady Windbreath," Kat slowly came closer to the gryphon. Windbreath cocked her head, and the flexible corners of her beak turned upwards in a slight smile. 

She flooded Kat's mind with everything she sensed, her empathic ability conveying more, much more, than even her telepathy. Kat ran the rest of the way forward, and reached out, scratching the gryphons neck-ruff. "Oh, ye are a gorgeous creature!" she whispered for Windbreath's tufted ears only. A low, pleasant rumbling filled the air, and Windbreath vibrated under Kat's hand.

She was _purring_.


	4. A Silver Trumpet

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, with the notable exception of all four books, and 'Macvity' belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber. "CATS" as well, and is based on Old Possums Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Elliot.

Authors Note: I just realized that the timing in this story doesn't work - Harry defeats Voldemort at the end of book Four, this takes place at what should be the start of book five, and somewhere in between Kat is taken prisoner for six months. Gimme a break and ignore it, K? And REVIEW, REVIEW **_REVIEW!!!!!_**__

  
  


Chapter III

Hagrid and Kat proved to be the only ones Windbreath would allow to touch her, although she did allow the other students near her. She and Kat kept up a constant rapport, trading feelings rather than words. It was _definitely_ a more sure method of communication than words.

"Now, Windbreath 'ere isn' 'ere on'y fer te lesson. Gryphons 'ave a talent with all magical creatures, and cin call, banish, an' control - t' an extent - many o' 'em. She's goin' t' be my assistant fer te year, now that yer on more dan'rous creatures."

"Great," Malfoy muttered. "We're going to be taught by _two_ magical creatures."

Kat gasped as Windbreaths anger filled their rapport. The she-gryphon growled, and it was _not_ the same sound as the purring. With an angry snarl, she broke the rapport. _~Hagrid is _not_ a mythical creature! In fact,~_ with this, Windbreath stalked towards a frozen Malfoy. _~I am empathic, may I remind you! And Hagrid is far more human than you!~_

The Slytherin stared at the gryphon, who had lost all traces of her diplomatic tranquility. Her composure vanished, and she had slipped into a full gryphonic battle-rage display. Tawny feathers on end, she towered over the blond Slytherin.

And then the entire episode seemed to vanish. Windbreath was suddenly back in her original place, feathers smooth. Only Malfoy's rigid stance indicated that anything had happened. _~Next time, boy, don't insult someone whose champion is a gryphon.~_

"I'll remember that," Malfoy said shakily. Kat felt Windbreath reassert their empathic rapport. The gryphon was annoyed, but pleased that she had managed to frighten the human without laying a talon on him.

  
  


After the class left, Hagrid turned a slightly disbelieving look on Windbreath. "Are yeh sure 'bout this, Windy? Te girl's a Muggle. What d'yeh see in 'er?"

Windbreath's answer was simple, and was composed as much of empathy as it was of telepathy. _~She _feels_ right, Hagrid. Just like you. You both have a gift with magical creatures, sentient or not. Hers, however, is even stronger than yours. She might even be able to fearlessly approach a werewolf. Or a Nightmare, which will help because none of the students or you will be able to get anywhere near.~_

"Nightmares," Hagrid shuddered. "Te on'y critter I don' like. They remin' me o' Dementors. Don' suck the 'appiness out o' life, they suck it out o' dreams. Turn 'em mad, crazy -"

_~Not all Nightmares are evil, you know. Most of them send their dreams as tests against your greatest fears,~_ Windbreath pointed out. _~Although most don't understand that, I think Kat will. And a Nightmare respects the ability to understand.~_

"I 'ope yer right, Windbreath, 'cause even yeh 'ave trouble wit' Nightmares."

_~We all do.~_

  
  


"Oh, what have I got next, where am I going?" Neville mutters, holding his head after coming down from the stuffy Divination classroom.

"Potions," came a voice from next to him. She had been forced out of the classroom by the smell and the incense, the combination giving her a splitting headache. 

"Oh, noooo," Neville moaned. "After that awful double Divination . . ." Then he looked skewed at the girl who'd answered his rhetorical question. "H-how did you know?"

"I overheard ye moaning about it at the table this morning. If I remember correctly, ye were the only one in earshot. After what little I've seen of Snape, and after that - what class _was_ that?" Kat asked as she followed Neville down the hallway.

Neville, who was by now very confused, answered. "Divination. W-why are you f-following me?"

Kat shrugged as they passed through a door that required tickling. "I don't know me way around yet. I've never been to the dungeons."

"D-don't rely on _me_ for a g-guide. Anyone will t-tell you, I t-tend to forget things."

"After four years o' going to the same classroom, I'd hope ye'd know yer way there!" Kat exclaimed.

As they began walking down the stairs to the dungeons, took another sideways look up at her. "If y-you're a fifth y-year, then why d-d'you need someone to s-show you around?"

"Ye really do have an abysmal memory, don't ye!" Kat exclaimed. "I met ye last night, when ye were looking for Dumbledore. I'm the Muggle, Kathryn. Kat, preferably."

"K-Kat?"

"Aye. Meow," Kat shrugged wryly as they entered Snape's dismal dungeon. "Here goes nothing. Wish me luck!"

"You'll need it," Neville looked frankly terrified at the prospect of talking to Snape one-on-one, even though it wasn't he who was going to. 

"Professor?" She asked as she approached the Potions teacher. "Professor Snape? Where do ye want me?"

Snape ignored her for several moments as he finished giving a few third-year Gryffindor's papers zeros. "Hm. Yes," Snape surveyed the room. "There. Next to Longbottom. Perhaps a Muggle can help him improve his grades," Snape sneered in Neville's direction, and Neville flushed. Ignoring Neville's scarlet coloration, Kat simply sat down next to him and pulled out an old geometry textbook one of the Muggle-born had sent home for for her. She hated math, but judging from the Gryffindors expressions and Snape's attitude towards her, she figured this was probably a good class to work on math in.

About halfway through drawing two intersecting planes, Kat glanced over at the neon green potion Neville was making and said "Stop!"

"What?!?" Neville screeched, surprised by Kat's sudden speech.

"Ye're supposed to put the porcupine quills in _after_ the sliced slugs."

Neville stared at her as if _she_ were a giant sliced slug. "H-how did you know t-that?"

"It's right there on your sheet. I just don't want to get a hole burned through my foot."

After Neville corrected his mistake, he and Kat bent over the instructions, concentrating on his _not_ burning another hole in the dungeon floor. Snape looked on with disgust.

  
  


Two weeks later, when an article in the _Daily Prophet_ had several students in a panic about the growing Dark Side problem, Dumbledore and several of the professors took a few measures to distract the students. 

"What is this?" Hermione, whom Kat had walked with down the breakfast every day, pointed to an announcement posted just outside the Great Hall. 

Kat gasped, a _huge_ smile broke out on her face, and she grabbed the quill hanging from the poster and signed her name one of the lines. Hermione shrugged. The sign read:

  
  


_Attention all students. A new band class is now being offered. The first meeting is tomorrow after class in dungeon five. All students interested in or already playing an instrument may attend._

  
  


Kat couldn't wait.

  
  


By the next night, Kat had worked herself into excited anticipation, and she arrived in dungeon ten minutes early. Ravynn Crowe, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, looked up as she arrived. "Early, aren't we, Miss Doves?"

"Aye," Kat burst into smiles. "But I couldn't wait. D'ye have a trumpet?"

Crowe stared at Kat for a moment, unaccustomed to the tall girl being so giddy. "Yes. Here - " she opened a drawer, and Kat saw half a dozen trumpet cases inside. She opened them all at once and compared them, finally choosing a scuffed silver one with a dent in the bell. She took it out, oiled the valves, and ran through a scale, tuning as she went. Crowe looked on with a skeptical look on her face. However, when Kat was satisfied that the trumpet was tuned and oiled, she ran a Bb scale that made the pure sound run like water through the room.

Crowe looked as if she had been hit on the back of the head with a board.

Kat ran up and down the chromatic scale, from the lowest note she could play and Crowe clamped her hands over her ears when Kat reached the highest. She also ran a few blues scales, and as Hogwarts students, most of which had never picked up an instrument, filed in, quite a few stared at the Muggle in astonishment. A few hadn't any idea she was doing anything special.

Nonetheless, there was one girl who recognized talent when she heard it.

"Kathryn Doves? The Muggle? Why am I not surprised," the blonde said, a quirky half-smile on her face. "I'm Rois. Rois Moon. I'm in Ravenclaw," Rois shook hands with Kat. Rois was a few inches shorter than Kat's 5'9", with hip-length blond hair and bright blue eyes. 

Kat cocked her head at the girl. "D'ye play?" she gestured with her trumpet.

"Trumpet? No. Alto saxophone, but I've only been playing over summers. No time here," she scowled.

"Kathryn?" Crowe called.

"Ye'd better go get an instrument before the greenies get a good one," Kat smiled. "Yes, Profesor Crowe?"

"How long have you been playing?"

"Since I was about eight. I've been dying to get me hands on one since this whole business started, but I figured the likelihood of that in Hogwarts was slim. 'Course, I think that a school on magic should include music as a standard," Kat cocked her smile and shrugged.

"I don't suppose you have a piece of music you would play for the class?" Crowe asked.

Kat thought about it for a moment. "Sure, actually. After I get warmed up well."

"You're not warmed up yet?" Crowe croaked. 

"Not for the song I intend to play. I'll go get it from the dorm," and with that Kat fairly skipped back to Gryffindor, where she ran down to the girls dorm and unlocked the 6" trunk Remus had given her before she left. Unlocking it, she pulled out several folded pieces of parchment. She had copied her original version from paper to parchment after being rescued, as the paper was so tattered and dirty she'd had to write half of it from memory.

On her way back to the dungeon, Hermione, Harry and Ron stopped her. "Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Band," Kat answered gleefully. 

"Can you play that thing?" Ron asked, gesturing to the trumpet she still held in her hand.

Kat glared at him, then played the first ten measures of the theme song from "Jurassic Park" from memory. Although Ron didn't recognize the movie, Harry and Hermione did, and all were suitable impressed. They didn't try to stop her as she raced away.

"I guess she can," Ron muttered.

Back in the dungeon, Kat clamped her hands over her ears at the din. Everyone seemed to be fiddling with their instruments, not even knowing what they were doing. She made her way over to Rois, who was starting in on some of the advanced pieces Crowe had left out for those who already played. "Can you do anything about this?" Rois asked. "I don't think she's got the nerve."

Kat shrugged and yelled, "I'll try!"

"You'll fry?" Rois gave her a weird look as she repeated what she'd heard.

Kat put the trumpet to her lips, and a second later a piercing, high-pitch squeal silenced those playing. "Professor Crowe asked me to play something for ye," she said by way of explanation, and set up her music on a stand.

No one recognized the introduction, but when she reached where the singers would start singing, there were a few intakes of breath as people recognized the song. The melody itself sang, and Kat seemed to be in a different world as she played, and most people forgot that there was a Muggle making this sound, or even a human. The music was almost visible, and it seemed to feel what it spoke of. Haunting, raucous, smooth and even obscene at times, the students lost themselves in the story the music told.

One didn't need words to tell the story of Macavity.

  
  



	5. Halloween

Disclaimer: None of this is mine but Kat.

Authors Note: alright, I apologize, but I have had the worst time updating! Check my profile, I've added three stories in one shot! I apologize again for being so late, and in return, this is two chapters in one section! Now, when you read this, you might be inclined to forgive me, but . . . Wait till the end. Heh. Review, or I'll leave it like this!

  
  


Chapter IV

His song is the culmination of every villain song ever written. It is nearly impossible to make a bad version of the song, as the music speaks for itself. When played by someone who knows exactly what she is doing, and how to do it . . . 

When the last note cut off, quite a few people had to shake their heads to clear them of the music. "'Macavity'," Rois breathed, breaking the awe-filled silence that followed. "From "CATS"."

"It works better with a bigger ensemble," Kat whispered.

  
  


"So you'll help me?"

"Gladly. Oh, glory, this will be fun! If they can learn fast enough, we might just be able to surprise the rest of the school," Kat smiled as she put the silver trumpet away. A few people had chosen better-looking gold instruments that didn't sound half as good as Kat's slightly battered silver trumpet. Rois and Kat had stayed nearly half an hour past the original practice, playing and talking. The Ravenclaw girl didn't care at all that Kat was a Muggle, nor that she had spent time among the Death Eaters. All she cared about was that she seemed to be a nice person who could play considerably better than 'nice'.

Rois had left for her common room about three minutes ago, and Professor Crowe had made an impassioned plea to Kat. She knew the basics, but one of the few things she knew only the very basics of conduction and the trumpet (convenient, eh?). So Kat would be helping her teach the newest after-class activity. Fortunately, there was someone in every section who'd had at least basic training on their chosen instrument already, so they made section leaders who might also be able to help. At least, until the rest of the section caught up with them.

One person who'd surprised everyone by coming was Neville. He'd hesitatingly tried out each of the instruments, and shocked poor Kat when a sweet tone flew out of an oboe! The incredibly high, difficult instrument was a challenge for most people, but Neville didn't seem to be having any trouble with it. Besides his usual inevitable mishaps.

Kat fell asleep happy that night, unshielded and defenseless against the nightmares she had worked so hard to prevent. They were the same as always; chained to a chair and under and intense interrogation light, hot and bright. Nagini slithered around her feet, and although Kat was no parseltongue, she knew the snake wouldn't attack her without provocation. All she ever saw of her tormenter was one pale, bony hand.

After waking, as usual, in a cold sweat, Kat did not sleep until dawn.

  
  


"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, looking skewed at Kat. Nearly a month had passed since the impromptu first band meeting. "You look as if you didn't sleep at all last night."

Kat shook her head as she finished pulling on her robes. "Just a nightmare. Nothing more."

"Speaking of nightmares, can you wait?!" Hermione squealed. "We've been studying them for the longest time, I can't wait to see one!"

Kat replied as they made their way towards the Great Hall. "Aye. But didn't Hagrid say that none o' us would be able ta get very close? Because of their - how did he put it?"

"Aura," Hermione said absentmindedly. "They give off the feeling of being absolutely terrified, especially when forced to make an appearance in this world."

"I never got that," Kat complained. "The whole 'world' idea. Shouldn't there be a class on the subject or something?"

Letting out an annoyed breath, Hermione answered. "There are different planes of existence, many of them working in and around our own. The world the Nightmares work in is call the 'dream realm', but as no Nightmare has ever taken a human with them into the dream realms, no one knows what it's like."

  
  


Windbreath concentrated, panting. She had all but exhausted herself, to no avail. There didn't seem to be a Nightmare for miles, physically and metaphysically. Then there was a glimmer, and all of a sudden a frantic neigh signaled that the Nightmare had been brought into this world. 

"How is she controlling her?" Hermione asked Hagrid. The class was some twenty meters away, Hagrid and Windbreath a bit closer. The Nightmare looked like a gigantic black mare, whose only giving feature was that she was see-though, and one could see the shadow of stars reflected in her coat. 

"'er name," he replied. "If yeh cin git a Nightmares name, yeh can control 'em. Or yeh can connect ta 'em, an' they might protect yeh from other Nightmares."

Much of the class had moved farther away from the writhing Nightmare, who didn't seem to want to appear for them. Let me go, you bloody gryphon! I have troubles enough without being forced to spontaneously switch worlds! Only Kat, Windbreath and Hagrid heard the Nightmares annoyed challenge in their heads. Even though most of the class had more than doubled it's distance from the creature, Kat took a few steps closer. She felt the fear rolling off the creature, but it didn't effect her any more than it effected the Nightmare.

"Calm down - we're not going to hurt ye. We just wanted to see ye," Kat said, and the Nightmare whipped her head in the Muggle's direction. If Nightmares could be astounded, this one was. Her fire-red eyes said it all. 

Your name, Muggle-who-runs-with-wizards?

Kat blinked. That ran along the lines of what Windbreath had first said to her. "Kat, Lady . . ."

Kitten, Muggle-girl, you have lived enough to earn even a Nightmare's respect, the Nightmare trotted up to Kat as Windbreath, Hagrid, and the class stared in amazement. If you vow to use it properly, I shall grant you my name. Call on me when you wish.

"I vow," Kat murmured, and reached up to touch the Nightmares' muzzle. Her hand fell through the ethereal creature.

B'cat'd'goth'et-chi, Kitten. Call me whenever you wish. Now, gryphon, if I made take my leave, there are bad dreams to be sown in this area. Many people would be very mad at me if I failed in that, and that alone is my nightmare. So, if I could go?

~Of - of course, B'cat'd'goth'et-chi. Good luck,~ Windbreath wished her on her way, and the Nightmare galloped towards the students, vanishing before any of them could even scream.

  
  


"Neville!" Kat yelled, as the violently purple potion splashed all over the table. As usual, Neville's failures were far more impressive than his successes. Letting off a noxious gas, the purple liquid was quickly going from liquid to gas, a state in which it would probably be poisonous. Kat scooted her chair away, and Neville screeched as some of the liquid hit him. He tore part of his robe away when the changing liquid began to eat through his robe, and he and Kat backed away from the table as the cloud of gas began to spread.

Snape yelled a few spells through the air, but they passed through the cloud without having any effect on it. He, too, we beginning to back away from the purple could when Seamus, trying to get away, knocked his bright blue potion into the cloud. That bit of the cloud dissipated, and the class began to throw their confondulus potions at the malignant cloud. It slowly vanished, letting the class breathe.

"Well," Snape hissed. "That is a new low for you, Longbottom. I think that I will not risk such a repetition. You don't mind failing that particular assignment. Twenty points from Gryffindor."

Neville hung his head.

When Potions was over, Kat stalked up to Neville with a furious look on her face.

"Are you going to yell at me too?" Neville asked dejectedly.

"Aye, but nae fer the reason ye seem ta think," her anger translated into her accent, making her almost incomprehensible. Her next statement didn't help things. "Why didnae ye stand up ta that git? Glory, Neville, ye donnae have ta let 'im walk all over ye! Ye seem ta be the only one who hasnae gotten the idea that Snape ain't god in those dungeons! Ye're drivin' me crazy, the way ye handle yerself when he's around!"

Neville was so surprised that he stopped on the steps and stared, unbelieving at Kat. "You're n-not going to yell at me for destroying your math b-book? Or - or practically k-killing the class? Or losing t-twenty points for Gryffindor?"

"No," Kat looked at him like he'd grown another head. "Ye made a mistake. So what? Ye shouldnae have ta pay fer that - at least, not ta the extent Snape is askin' ye ta!" she smiled. "Besides, why should I be mad at ye for gettin' rid o' me textbook? I hate geometry. But think about it. If Harry - "

"Oh, don't compare m-me to Harry Potter," Neville groaned.

"Why not? If Harry Potter, whom Snape hates, can stand up ta him, why not ye? Besides, ye won't get anything worse than detention. Wouldn't it be worth it?"

Kat walked the rest of the way up the stairs, and Neville stood halfway up the steps, watching her go. He couldn't believe she'd said that, couldn't believe that anyone cared about anything he did besides loose points for Gryffindor. And yet - 

Why not?

  
  


"No, no, no, stop stop STOP!!" Kat yelled, standing in front of the congregation of month-old band students. "It's NOT THAT HARD!! Ye stop playing when I wave me hands like this!!!" As with most bands, a concept that the students seemed to be having trouble facing was that their conductor had not only control over when and how they played, but when the stopped playing. It was October 15, and the class was working on a simple version of 'This is Halloween', from "The Nightmare Before Christmas", to play for their first concert on Halloween night, right before supper. "Okay," she breathed. "Rois, play that phrase starting halfway through measure 16. On me count - "

Kat dropped her hands, and the alto sax followed her though the phrase. "Thank ye. Saxes, think you can manage that? Okay, all of ye - no, just the saxophones - play that same section Rois just played."

"Where are we?"

"Halfway through measure sixteen," Kat growled.

When she had run through the phrase with the saxes a few times, Kat threw up her hands. "Practice that, please? We have to get on with rehearsal. Everyone, start back at the beginning."

They didn't get very far before Kat waved them silent again. "Neville, Colin, sit up straight. I've heard ye both on your oboes, I know ye can hit that note. Go on, play it - the end of measure forty-seven."

Neville and Colin Creevy nervously reached, wavering around before they hit the note she wanted. "Better. Try the whole phrase, start two measures earlier." Kat listened to the small oboe section, and nodded. "Alright. Everyone, start at measure forty-five."

She clapped her hands when they finished playing for the last time. "Much better! Saxes, practice that phrase! Clarinets, if you squeak on that F one more time, heads will roll. See ye Thursday."

Neville walked up to her after class. He had a nervous expression on his face, but it was also steeled. "Y-you're almost as b-bad as Snape, you know?"

Kat blinked a few times, then smiled wryly. "I know. I understand Snape, if ye can understand that. He loves his subject, and he feels that everyone should love it, too. That's how I've always felt about music. I can't sing, I sound like a congested raven, but I can make this piece of metal - and with out a good person behind it, that's all it is - sing for me. I want others to do that, too. However, I won't do anything worse than tell someone that I can't help them until and unless they help themselves. Practice, practice, practice!" she ran a phrase that sounded like what she'd said through her trumpet before putting it away. "And by the way - ye and Colin are progressing very well, for people who'd never picked up an oboe a month ago. Glory, the only oboes I've worked with sounded as good as ye, and most o' them had been playing for years!" 

"We have a hard taskmaster," Neville commented sarcastically as they made their way back up to the Gryffindor tower.

"If you think I'm hard, you should hear some of the teachers I've had! Truffle dog," she said to the Fat Lady, and the portrait hole swung open. "If I could, I'd use a few choice spells on Hagrid for giving me extra homework because the Nightmare gave me her name."

Kat ran down to her dormitory to pick up The Monster Book of Monsters, and had no trouble controlling it. She hadn't understood why no one had originally been able to get their books open. Bringing it and a roll of parchment back to the common room, she sat next to the fire using the book as a desk so she could sit in one of the armchairs. 

She was halfway through her second essay on Nightmares when Neville sat down in the armchair next to hers - the one that was always vacant. "Hagrid r-really gave you extra work b-because the Nightmare t-told you her name?"

"Aye," Kat cocked her head at him. "Need some help?"

"Yes," he moaned. "I don't understand - what exactly do the stallions do, why don't they give out nightmares too?"

Kat sighed, and tried explaining what she knew. What she'd felt, when B'cat'd'goth'et-chi had given her name. Once you had mind-bonded with a Nightmare, writing an essay or three wasn't difficult. However, explaining everything to someone else was a challenge, and to Neville, well . . .

It was past midnight when Kat and Neville finally dragged themselves away from the fire, both satisfied that they had done what they'd gone there to do.

  
  


Chapter V

Kat waited nervously next to the massive gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's lair. She wished for a moment that she had her trumpet with her; at least then she'd be able to channel her nerves into something useful. However, the Muggle girl was dressed in her Hogwarts best - one does not meet an Administrator of the Ministry of Magic in regular school robes. 

And one does not get interrogated by an Administrator in ones school robes, either, she thought darkly. More than halfway through October, this was the first time that the Ministry had called on her. She had given Remus and Sirius accounts of what had happened before she left, but she knew she'd missed some things, or there's be things that were important that hadn't occurred to her, because she hadn't even taken a class on military strategy, much less the strategy a wizard would use in such a war! 

The gargoyle sprang aside, and a familiar face smiled at her from the other side. "Remus!" she exclaimed, her face instantly copying his wide grin. She hugged him "What're ye doin' here? I thought ye an' - Snuffles - were back at your place!"

Remus chuckled, looking down at the girl who'd practically become his daughter. She wasn't much shorter than he was. "Well, the Ministry has finally acknowledged our groups activities."

"Meanin' ye have legal sanction."

"Yes. Basically."

"And Snuffles?"

"Let's just say he still quite resembles a Grim."

Kat shook her head. "Ye know, I'd really like to get me hands on Pettigrew - filthy little rat. He chose the right animal for an Animagus. All the Death Eaters practically worship Voldemort, but Pettigrew disgusts me."

"You've seen him?" Remus asked excitedly. 

"Aye. And that silver hand 'o his. Now, am I to get interrogated, or did I just get called here so someone could tell me you were visiting? If so, why am I wearing me formal robes?"

Remus rolled his eyes as the gargoyle leaped shut behind Kat. "Well, I wouldn't call it interrogation, but a Ministry Administrator is here to ask you a few questions," he answered as they climbed the spiral staircase. He shot her a wry glance, "So you didn't get decked out for nothing."

Kat returned the scathing look with one of her own. "Oh, goody."

The werewolf and the Muggle entered Dumbledore's study laughing.

  
  


"Miss Doves. Doves!" Snape snapped, and Kat bit her lip.

"Professor?"

"As I said, if you intend to learn the theory, though obviously not the practice, of Potions, staying alert in class would be a great boon!"

"Yes, Professor," Kat bit back a retort that would earn her nothing in Snape's sight. She longed to deride the arrogant teacher, and reveal more about his past as a Death Eater than he would probably like. However, Snape was one of the most powerful teachers and dangerous enemies one could make at Hogwarts. The only more dangerous enemy one could make was Dumbledore himself.

If I could focus on the class while visions of an intense interrogation by an Administrator danced in my head, I would! I just don't know what it was, but images of his really angry face keep popping up in my head at inconvenient moments. Dammit, if it weren't for Remus, I'd probably still be in there. Note to self: thank Dumbledore profusely for inviting Remus. Profusely and often, Kat rubbed her temples. All she wanted to do right now was escape into the room set aside for band and wail away on her trumpet - Maybe perfect that one line in measure - 

"MISS DOVES!!" Snape's irrate voice filled the dungeon and next to her, Neville jumped. "If you're ill, see Madam Pomfrey. If not, I would enjoy it if you would answer the question I just put to you." Snape's voice was filled with a kind of cold, restrained loathing.

Kat groaned inwardly. The last thing she wanted to do was see Madam Pomfrey, but staying in Potions was going to snap what little nerves she had left. Finally, while Snape stood there tapping his foot, and the class around her become more and more anxious, she did something no Gryffindor had ever done.

She stood up, collected her books, and walked out of class.

Snape's eyes widened just a fraction, but then they moved just enough for him to glare at her retreating figure. Neville gulped; he hated to think what kind of detention this was going to earn her. And how many points she'd just lost for Gryffindor.

However, Snape surprised the entire class by staring speculatively for a few moments, then continuing on with the lesson as if the Muggle had never been part of his class. Malfoy stared, astonished, waiting for Snape to crack the whip on the Gryffindors and take away thirty or forty points. But Snape just continued teaching, and the Slytherins were left wondering if their Head of House had lost his nerve.

  
  


Kitten?

"Why do you always call me that?" Kat asked the Nightmare rhetorically. "My name is Kat."

You're not old enough to be a Cat yet; therefore you are a Kitten. 

"Logic to the highest degree. I like it."

She surveyed her dreamworld - she was sleeping in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, but her mind was in her dreamworld, and she controlled what happened here. At least, she could with B'cat'd'goth'et-chi's help. B'cat'd'goth'et-chi was a huge ebony mare in his 'place', she looked and felt as real as any horse in the physical world. But her eyes shone with red fire, and her mindvoice was full of phantoms. 

The Nightmare studied the young Muggle for a moment. Something is troubling you. Deeply.

Kat sighed. "Aye. I suppose. Although I didn't really call ye to become a shrink - "

A shrink? What in the dream realms is a shrink? The title doesn't make any sense - is it some Hindu creature? A smallish demon, perhaps?

Kat laughed. "No, it's a psychiatrist."

This I have heard of.

"But not the derogatory term 'shrink'? Oh, boy."

B'cat'd'goth'et-chi moved her head to look back at the Muggle on her sable back. Now, I have a question to put to you - wizards can visit each other, and Muggles, in dreams. They can actually interact with each other while they sleep - it's a tiring thing, just like being awake, but it is possible.

"And you're telling me this why?"

Well, for one, it would help you correct that mistake you made in your third essay on my kind.

"Oops."

Also. Your dreamgate is closed, which is rare in one so young - and no one holds the key.

Kat patted the Nightmare's neck. "Which means . . .?"

That no one can get into your dreams. Why not? Is there no one close enough to you to open those gates?

Sighing, Kat replied "No. Perhaps only the gryphon, Windbreath."

And gryphons, her mindvoice became derogatory, can't dream-travel the way Nightmares can, or even the simple way wizards can.

"Does it really matter?"

Only in that without a herd, you can't be happy. Humans are social creatures, just like Nightmares, horses, and - Lady of the Dream Realm help me - gryphons. You need a herd to be happy.

Kat's laugh could have put Snape's hair on end. "No one will ever accept me, B'cat'd'goth'et-chi. I can't be a Muggle anymore; me friends and family think I'm dead. I can't be a wizard, I haven't got any magic. So what's left for me, eh?"

The Nightmare trotted back towards the entrance of Kat's dreamworld, and Kat felt her physical self begin to wake up. Ask the gryphon. If there's anything gryphons are decent at, it's Empathy and Divination. Of a sorts. You might be better off finding a centaur, she chuckled, a light tinkling in Kat's mind overlaid by the impression of thunder.

"Ye need to get this thing with gryphons out o' your system, Nightmare. Wish me luck!"

All I can.

  
  


Kat's hands shook on her trumpet; she steadied them unconsciously. Professor Crowe - Ravynn - stood before the band, baton raised. She glanced around at the hodge-podge collection of witches- and wizards-in-training who'd volunteered for this band; all had instruments raised to their lips and were awaiting her signal to begin. Ravynn gave them a count of four, on the fourth beat they breathed, and on the first - 

It wasn't Mozart, or even Andrew Llyod Webber, but it was very good for a group of people who'd never even thought about music until a few weeks ago. With the typical Hogwarts Halloween feast about to begin, "This is Halloween" set the mood for the evening.

When the music died, the clapping could have raised the enchanted roof off the ceiling.

  
  


"That was sooo good, I cannot believe we pulled it off!" Rois's voice jumped an octave when she squeaked "it off!", and Kat rubbed her ear.

"Ouch. I know, we've been playing for a few months and -"

"Oh, don't say anything else, or you'll jinx every other concert we ever perform!" Rois demanded. 

"I can't jinx, I'm not a witch; remember?" Kat glared "menacingly" at Rois as they made their way back towards the Great Hall.

Rois made an exasperated noise and slapped the air in front of Kat's face. "I meant in the superstitious sense! Bother," she muttered as they entered. "Now you have to go sit with the Gryffindors, don't you?"

"So sit across from me! Besides, I think I'm going to sit near a certain oboe who doesn't seem to have any good friends. None willing to share a holiday with him, anyway."

"Neville?! Alright," Rois backed off at the look on Kat's face. "You'd better hope he doesn't spill anything on you. Or something equally interesting."

"Oh, come on! I sit next to him in Potions, he can't get much worse than that," Kat pointed out. Rois nodded, grimacing. "You have a point. Did anyone ever tell you -" they squeezed between the two tables, and Kat plopped down nonchalantly next to Neville while Rois sat behind her. "What he did in third year? With the boggart?"

"No-o," Kat said slowly. "What boggart? Neville, what did you do to a boggart?" she asked, turning suddenly towards him. Neville started for a moment before realizing that she was talking to him.

"I-I t-t-turned it into - "

"Professor Snape," Rois finished with a giggle. "Oh, I wish I'd seen that!"

Kat shot a glance at Rois, Neville, and Rois again. "What is so funny about a boggart-Snape?"

"We-we had t-to make the boggart less frightening," Neville answered. "And s-so Professor Lupin -"

"Remus? Remus was the DADA teacher here two years ago?!"

"Yes . . . How do you know him?" Rois inquired slowly.

Kat looked stricken, as if she'd said something she wasn't supposed to. In fact, she had. "I just - I just know him, alright? I really can't tell ye any more," Kat's voice pleaded as she finished.

Rois gave her a funny look, while Neville shut up and watched.

"It has something to do with why you're here, doesn't it? That's why you can't tell," Rois deduced.

Kat winced.

"Yes, yes, it does, and I'm sorry. Just go on," begged Kat.

Rois wasn't about to let this train jump the track quite so soon. "Kat, Lupin's a werewolf. Did he go Dark on us or something? Is he a Death Eater?"

"NO!!!" Kat denied violently. "How could ye even think that?! After ye had him for a teacher, for an entire year -" Kat shook her head vehemently. "Either ye didn't know him at all, or you're prejudiced against him 'cause he's a werewolf." Kat gave Rois a cold stare. "Which is it?"

Rois was staring, astounded, at the abrupt transformation that had taken place in Kat. She gulped, a little frightened. Only the fact that Kat couldn't really hurt her kept her from being too scared to answer. As it was, she was afraid to answer - 

And afraid not to.

"Alright!" she admitted, throwing up her hands in a sign of defeat. "So I'm a little scared of werewolves. Get me off the hook here! He becomes a vicious beast once a month, I've a right to be frightened."

Kat glowered. "Maybe. But ye haven't a right to judge him by what he is, and for your knowledge, he's put his neck on the line more times than I can count for our side. So leave off your foolish prejudices. I want to hear exactly what Neville did to this Snape-boggart."

Neville started at suddenly being included in the conversation again, and Halloween night proceeded from thereon without a hitch.

  
  


"I am telling ye, Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater!!" Kat shouted. "Pettigrew is alive, working as Voldemort's right hand -" the Administrator flinched. "-and Sirius Black is as innocent as Harry Potter!"

"Then why," the Administrator growled, as he had the last half-dozen times she'd told him all that, "is his son Draco still going to Hogwarts, smack-dab in the centre of our side?"

"I don't know," Kat answered wearily.

"And why did Ministry agents find Pettigrews finger at the scene of the crime, fifteen years ago?"

"I told ye," Kat's anger at the idiot (in her mind) who was interrogating her returned tenfold. "Pettigrew cut his own finger off!! If ye aren't going to believe me, why are ye asking me any of this?! At least if I got captured by the Dark Side again, they'd BELIEVE me when I told them things!!!"

"Oh?"

Kat glared at him, and continued, her voice as cold and sharp as ice. "Look, as far as interrogations go, this is pathetic compared to what I'd get if I got captured again. Voldemort" the Administrator flinched again. "and his Death Eaters are much more imaginative. I am not speculating. I know. This is a fact. So believe me, give me a Verita Sereum, or toss me back into the Muggle world with a watchdog. Then maybe you'll get some ideas on how to properly torture your captives for information. If your 'watchdog' survives the experience. This is the truth. Ye have two choices: live with it, or die. You're welcome to throw me to the streets and see what eats me up. Maybe then you'll learn." Kat took a deep breath, and stood up. "Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater. Pettigrew is alive, and committed the crime Sirius Black was sentenced for. Sirius Black is innocent. Now, if ye chose not to believe that, woe betide the wizard who comes across Wormtail in his human form. Wands are good for magic - they don't help if ye have a snapped neck."

Kathryn walked out, only allowing her anger into her physical demeanor when she'd left the room. She stormed past Dumbledore and out of his office, down the spiral stairs, and out the gargoyle. She managed to keep up her impression of contained rage until she reached a door she'd never seen before, which lead into a classroom so thick with dust it appeared not to have been used since Riddle's time.

Then she broke down in tears. 

She didn't bawl, or cry out, or sob noisily in anguish, no, Kat was a silent crier. Her shoulders shook with despair and weariness as she sank to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees and curling up in a fetal position. She moaned, when she got enough air back into her lungs to moan, moaned helpless half-sentences that reflected her shattered mental state.

"I can't . . . they won't . . . I'll . . . no, God no . . . I can't . . . they won't believe me . . . what'm I . . . I can't . . ."

She buried her head, tears pouring down her cheeks and getting in her hair. When she couldn't think enough to moan coherently, she wailed.


	6. Centaurs and Gakis

Disclaimer: Don't own this, if I did, this would actually be in the books and I wouldn't have to waste my time writing fan fiction!

A/NI: erm . . . Heh heh heh . . . I don't suppose you would accept an apology for not posting in a month? AHHHHHHH!! NO! DON'T HURT ME! IF YOU HURT ME I CAN'T WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER!! **blinks** ah, good. The two people who actually read this left. And I do apologize. I had a major case of writers block for ALL my stories, which is also why I delayed updating so many for so long. And it's really hard to juggle that many chapter stories, so I'll do my best. 

A/NII: Is anyone able to tell me if the Japanese honorific for women is -san or -chan? I apologize for getting it wrong out of ignorance if I did!

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Shameless Advertising: go read my other fics. I have X-Men, Elfquest, Mercedes Lackey, an original that no one's read, and Star Wars.

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Shameless Advertising for someone else: if you do X-Men, read Nightshade by Nightshade Darkholme. Please? It's really good and isn't getting the credit it deserves.

On to the fic! (yes I'm shutting up)

Chapter VI

"There's _nothing_? Ye can't read a thing?" Kat repeated incredulously.

The half-equine shook his maned head. "I'm sorry, young Muggle, but the stars and planets have been known to hold their secrets, even from centaurs," the centaur, Firenze, sighed and tossed his mane. "Your future is as hidden as the date of the Apocalypse."

Kat echoed his sigh. "Well, it was worth trying. Thank ye."

"Would you like me to consult a few of the others, and report back to Windbreath?" Firenze suggested.

"Aye! Thank ye again, Firenze!"

"You're welcome. Happy to help where stargazing is concerned," the fellow waved her off, then murmured to himself, "Though the stars may hide your future, lass, I have the feeling you'll need all the help you can get."

Firenze heard an incredulous cry from behind him, whirled around.

"First you go gallivanting around in the forest with the Potter boy on your back, and now you stoop low enough to aid even a Muggle?!"

Firenze took in the sight of the stallion centaur, older than himself by half a century. Though Firenze was young yet, he was no fool, and no colt out of his first coat. The elder centaurs once-ebony flanks were graying in places, and his shock of sable hair ran with streaks of white. Firenze shook his head, long mahogany hair whipping around his neck. He stamped a forehoof in annoyance at his elder, and his chestnut coat glowed in the moonlight as he approached Bane.

"Senile old fool! Barely worthy of your title, barely noticed by the mares – even your herd-mare's eyes have been shifting to us younger ones!"

Bane backed up a step, Firenze's unexpected attack startling him. 

"Did you not read the heavens this summer?! Or have you even lost that ability? That was no mere Muggle, not even a mere human, she is important, a key to keep the Dark Lord out of this place!" Firenze advanced on his herd leader, who backed up again in face of his challenge. "Even with your stargazing gone, unable and unfit to lead us, you ought to have sensed something special about that girl! Yes, a mere human, a mere Muggle, but she's Talented!"

Bane scoffed at this newest of Firenze's claims. "No Muggle has ever been Talented before. Not in the eternal record of the stars, nor anytime in the far future."

"You forgot to mention the present, old _man_," Firenze barely held a snarl in check, outraged by a leader who was not fit to lead, who could not see past the end of his nose. "She is here and now, and important to the future!"

"Old **man**?!!" Bane roared. "Old **man**!! I will show you man, coltling, and when you wander the forest a loner, remember my words!"

As civilized as centaurs were, as calm a face as they presented to any wizard, every herd was lead by a stallion who fought each day to keep his place, usually mentally – 

But sometimes, a young upstart would decide that he was better equipped, and after many verbal sorties in which neither won, it came down to the eons-old method: fighting. Fierce but brief, clashing coats glistened with sweat in the Forbidden Forest. Long tails swished as they circled, waiting for the other to make a move. Fists balled, and long hair concentrated in ropes.

When it was all over, Firenze watched Bane trot off into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. "I am sorry, Bane, brother of my father, but the stars tell of hard times to come, and Great Changes to be made. You were too old, too inflexible – and I am so sorry," Firenze hung his head for a moment, a tribute to a centaur whose endgame had come.

"And now, there is a future to attend to."

As Kat walked dejectedly back towards Hogwarts an ethereal shadow shaped like a horse shimmered into existence next to her. B'cat'd'goth'et-chi turned fire-red eyes on her young charge, tossing her jet mane. **_And? What did Firenze say?_**

Kat sighed. "That me future was as nebulous as a Nightmare who does not wish to be found."

**_I'm certain he didn't use that exact wording,_** the Nightmare teasingly replied, shaking her mane.

"Actually, he compared me to the Apocalypse."

B'cat'd'goth'et-chi laughed in chimes and thunder, kicking up her hooves and swishing her tail. **_Hah! Cryptic as usual!_**

Staring at the Nightmare, Kat shook her head. "Ye," she accused. "Are in a _very_ good mood! What brought that on?"

**_And why should I tell you of the nebulous workings of a Nightmares mind? _** B'cat'd'goth'et-chi questioned sprightly.

"Nightmare – you're _frolicking_."

**_Not even Nightmares can be solemn all the time!_**

"News to me," she muttered. "Nightmare? Can you see anyone near the school?"

**_No-o_**, B'cat'd'goth'et-chi answered slowly. **_Why?_**

"Because I snuck out to see Firenze, and I'd really rather not get caught coming back in. That would just compound problems."

**_Trouble on the home front, Kitten?_**

"Some. Not enough to worry about; not yet anyway."

**_Such as . . ._** she prompted.

"About a week ago a Ministry Administrator came to question me, and didn't believe a word I said," Kathryn wore a sour look on her face, green eyes flashing at the memory and the panic attack it had brought on. Then she waved flippantly and shrugged. "Anyway. Nothing to worry about as of yet. Now, if ye would excuse me, I have a school to sneak back into, and I'd be rather noticeable with a huge ghost horse trotting next to me."

**_Good luck, Kitten. Although I get the feeling I am wishing you that far too often._**

"I can use all the help I can get, B'cat'd'goth'et-chi. G'night, Nightmare."

"I d-don't think that's qui-quite f-f-f-fair, sir."

Snape froze. Did he just . . . he _couldn't_ have. Not from – it must have been someone else. _With that stutter? Not likely_. "Repeat that, Mr Longbottom."

"I d-d-don't think th-that's fair, s-sir," Neville stammered.

Snape blinked one too many times. Once he got over the shock, he slunk towards the Gryffindor. Malfoy, just as stunned, saw what Snape was doing and relaxed in his chair, hands behind his head. This was going to be good.

"Ye were great!" Neville heard an excited voice from behind him. "I think ye stunned the whole class!"

Kat bounded up to him, a grin plastered on her face. "Well? Was it worth a week of detention and not being allowed to Hogsmeade next trip?"

Neville thought about it for a moment. _The expression on Snape's face_ . . . "I-I think . . . Maybe it was."

After Neville's incident with Snape, December fled by. The band had just finished a rush rehearsal to learn 'Jingle Bells' for the leaving Feast when Kat caught Harry on his way up to Gryffindor tower. "Harry! Harry!" she called.

"Huh?" he replied to the unexpected summons, turning around.

"Harry, can I borrow Hedwig?"

"Huh?" he asked again.

Kat rolled her eyes. "May I borrow your owl?" she clarified.

"Uh – sure, I suppose," Harry, still surprised, started towards the owlery. As they climbed the spiral stairs to the owlery he wondered "Why do you need to borrow Hedwig? Couldn't you just use a school owl?"

"Not unless ye want the next person who uses him to be able to find Sirius," she replied, a little smugly.

Harry's mouth fell open. "How – but – Sirius?!" he squeaked.

They had reached the owlery. "Ye know, your godfather. Sirius Black," Kat clarified, the smug expression expanding.

"How – "

"He and Remus found me. Remus usually writes about once a week, but I haven't heard from them in quite a while. It's got me worried. Besides, if they're in trouble, Hedwig can get herself into – or out of – almost anything. She's one of the smartest owls I've ever met. I have no doubt that she can get this to Remus, no matter where he is or what kind of predicament he and Sirius have gotten themselves into."

Hedwig glowed under Kat's praise as Harry tied the message to her leg. Turning, he launched her into the air before replying. "So – Remus rescued you from – from _what_, for that matter?"

"I spent some time among the Death Eaters. Hermione knows more about it than ye do – you're welcome to ask her. But I stayed with Remus and Sirius for a few weeks afterwards."

"Before I ask what Sirius is like – what exactly did you write to them?" Harry asked, his curiosity piqued. He was dying to know _anything_ about his godfather.

Kat shrugged. "Basically, I asked them if anything was wrong, if they needed some help – and proceeded on with a normal letter from there. Asked how Buckbeak was doing, reminded Remus about next month's blue moon, and if Remus was due back here anytime soon."

"So . . ." Harry bit his lip. "Can you tell me about Sirius?"

Kat laughed a little. "Aye."

Kat had been moving her food around her plate with her fork for ten minutes when Dumbledore stood at make the promised announcement. She hadn't yet gained back her appetite since being held by Death Eaters, the few exceptions being when she first escaped and when she first came to Hogwarts. She still barely filled the school robes that had been provided for her.

"Before Assistant Headmisstress McGonagall passes around the sign-up sheet for staying over break, I would like to announce that, as everyone seemed to enjoy the event last year, we are having the Yule Ball again."

Dumbledores announcement shocked the entirety of the Hogwarts students body. Two seats over from Kat a Gryffindor she didn't know had gone white from shock, and Rois looked like an albino at the neighboring Ravenclaw table. She made a mental note to check up on why Rois was so frightened by that prospect.

As the rest of the Hogwarts chattered about what they were going to wear, and how they were going to convince their parents to let them stay over break, and if so-and-so was going to ask them out. Kat, after straining a moment to remain aloof from it all, wondered what in the ten circles of hell she was going to wear.

"You know, Headmaster Dumbledore . . . Kat will be with us all of winter break," Crowe commented.

"Yes . . ." he agreed, giving the duo a weird look, as if he couldn't comprehend why he was being told this. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Well, we're having the Yule Ball again," Sinestra pointed out, as if this explained everything.

"Yes, we are . . ." Dumbledore's voice trailed off again, and Crowe sighed.

"We've provided her with every scrap of clothing that girl has worn since she arrived here. As Hogwarts isn't going to provide her with a dress robe, we thought we might ask permission to take her off school grounds for a bit of shopping. For that matter, I don't have anything to wear either," Crowe muttered under her breath.

"Off – Hogwarts grounds?!!" Dumbledore squeaked.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, she is really only a child."

"A child who knows more about both sides of this insane war than any other living person! She knows of anyone and everyone who has any importance! If she were to get caught . . . We would be doomed."

"Yes. But that poor girl has perhaps two friends – she is the only one here like herself, and most of the other students avoid her. Even the terrible trio (Crowe's name for Ron, Harry and Hermione) doesn't really talk to her except Hermione, and that's because they sleep in the same room. And knowing what she does . . . What she's been though . . . Don't you think it might help to have a dose of normalcy in there? She hasn't seen anything but wizards for months, Dumbledore. And as well as she seems to fit in, she's still easily surprised by things wizards can do. She's only fifteen, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore paced back and forth, three pairs of eyes following him. Fawkes chirped a comment from across the room. The phoenix had never met the girl, but Dumbledore found that Fawkes always seemed to have something to say in her favor. "Alright. But for no more than half a day, this Sunday. I need where you're going, so we can discreetly keep an eye on you."

"I'm sure Kat cin think up somthin' fer herself, Headmaster," came a rough voice from the doorway. "Pardon th' intrusion, but as yeh were talkin' abou' th' same gel I need ta talk ta yeh abou', I figured comin' in wasn' any harm," Hagrid stood filling the door before stepping in.

"No harm done, Hagrid. And just why did you want to see me about young Kathryn?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Yeh know what . . . I'm doin' this week. Well, th' mangy sub yeh hired sent an owl ta say he couldn' make it. I don' think we cin git another teacher so quickly so . . . Well, Windy, now, she cin teach ta class."

"I thought it was hard for most people, with a few noted exceptions such as yourself, to speak to gryphons?"

"Yeah. See, Kat cin talk ta 'er. She could talk fer Windy durin' class, but she'd miss 'er own."

Dumbledore sighed. Most of the time, Kat didn't make much of a fuss (unless it was on her trumpet), and he'd forgotten how different she was from his normal students. "She can speak to the gryphon?"

"Wit' ease, Professor."

"Alright. I'll pull her from classes next week, and Professor Crowe, Professor Sinestra . . . If anything happens to that child, your jobs are forfeit."

"This means what, exactly?" Crowe asked for what must have been the sixtieth time as the trio approached the Muggle shops.

Kat sighed, and explained the British currency to her professors yet again. Neither had been Muggle-born, and both were having as much fun exploring Muggles as Kat had wizards – only with much less torture-by-evil and more exclamations of precisely how clever Muggles were to have gotten along without magic.

Most wizards had a few sets of Muggle clothing, and Crowe and Sinestra were both dressed fairly normally. Kat, even though she had spent the last year entirely in the company of wizards, headed unerringly for the formal dress section – there was a clearance of dresses left over from the winter formal season. While the younger Crowe stayed with Kat, Sinestra followed a sales clerk to the woman's, rather than Juniors, section.

Luck was with them – or at least, it was with the professors. Both found what they wanted at that first store, though it took them three more to find something Kat both liked and looked good on her. However, they weren't done yet! Both professors had decided to make an impression at the Ball, and were going the whole way. Two shoe stores later they were finished, and Professor Crowe – who'd given up and told Kat to call her Ravynn – suggested they stop for ice cream at the nearby Diagon Ally before heading back to Hogwarts.

"Kaaaattthhhhryyyynnnnn?" a light, accented voice hissed from the shadows behind them. Both professor jumped and whirled, to find a small Japanese man standing behind them. Kat was bent double laughing.

"Kunihiko, one of these days you're going to scare a powerful wizard and they'll turn you into smoke – permanently!" Kat scolded him. 

"Not much of a change from the usual, though," Kunihiko – whom Kat obviously knew – smiled slightly. He didn't seem the type of person who would smile willingly often.

"Kat – who is this?" Sinestra gulped.

"Kunihiko, a very unique traveling Shinto priest," Kat replied.

"Young Kathryn asked if I might accompany you on your outing today, and as I had nothing else to do, I agreed."

"That, and to have a legitimate excuse to get at the Muggles mall vibes," Kat added. "You aren't entirely selfless, so don't pretend to be."

Kunihiko bowed slightly in response, admitting her to be in the right. "Thanks to you, I shall not have to leave this rich area soon – I have fed well enough here to last me longer than usual. My thanks."

"And mine for the watch dog service," Kat replied.

Ravynn followed the conversation without a word, eyes darting back and forth between the two. Then her mind clicked almost loud enough to be heard. "_Gaki!_" she hissed. She couldn't teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and not be able to recognize this . . . _creature_ . . . for what it was.

"Mental only, Professor Ravynn Crowe. My fiercer cousins tend to stay on their home ground. I chose this profession to stay near my myriad food sources – peaceful, kind emanations. Be grateful I am not one of my cousins, Ravynn-chan."

Sinestra only looked more confused. No wonder; the gaki's native homeland is Japan. "Excuse me but – what are you? What's a gaki?"

"Well, I usually look like this. But when I feed – off, as I said, peaceful emanations – I look like _this_," with that, Kunihiko seemed to dissolve.

"Where – ?"

"There," Kat pointed at a faint cloud of smoke which was completely ignoring the little wind there was and staying right in place. Two slitted brown eyes appeared in the smoke, and Sinestra yelped.

"Then what did you mean by 'fiercer cousins'?" the Astronomy professor inquired.

Kunihiko sat down, assuming his human form, and didn't seem at all miffed to be giving a lecture on his kind. "There are many kinds of gakis, just as there are many kinds of humans. However, the only difference between humans is magical-nonmagical. Gakis very. We all attain sustenence from nonphysical things, such as incense, peaceful feelings, perfume, and the like. There are only three of us – only three – who can kill. The Flesh, the Blood, and the Soul gakis. Flesh and blood are exactly as they sound, and their human kills are truly terrifying. Those two both partake of physical nourishment. The soul gaki, however, is the most feared. They can literally rip out a mortal soul – wizard and non-wizard alike – and eat _that_. They can assume the form of anyone whom they have 'eaten', and leave not a single physical trace on the corpse."

Sinestra eyed the remainder of her strawberry ice cream with distaste.

The gaki noticed, and nodded. "I apologize for ruining your appetite. I fear my cousins have that effect on humans."

"You forgot to mention that, unless killed, gakis are immortal," Ravynn growled. She didn't like gakis, or any other creature that came with an unappetising resume.

"I was spawned before the samurai, Ravynn-chan. And I fear I must take my leave – and so must you," Kunihiko vanished, his only remnant a quickly dispersing puff of smoke.

**_You've been seeing a lot more of magical creatures than humans lately,_** B'cat'd'goth'et-chi commented. She was trotting amiably next to the Muggle, experimenting with different gaits in the physical world. Her shadow form was slightly harder to control, though Kat provided a focus for the Nightmare. 

"They seem to be ore helpful lately," Kat retorted. "Besides, I just spent the entire day with two of my professors."

"And a gaki."

"Actually, a gaki and a shade," Kat corrected. "And you, of course, even though you would have terrified normal Muggles had you appeared."

**_Couldn't have done much, either_**, the Nightmare shook her head, ethereal mane shimmering as it bounced with her complicated gait. **_Besides scare whatever might have come after you – and that only if it was willing to be scared. If you had run into Wormtail, there is little I would have been able to do against someone so frighten of and devoted to Voldemort._**

"Yeah, well, not all Death Eaters are that fanatic."

**_They might have sent something else after you! They don't care if the Muggles find out about them,_** B'cat'd'goth'et-chi glared at her human friend, annoyed with her for taking such a risk.

Kat sighed, and tossed a rock into the lake. The giant squid shot a tentacle out and grabbed it before it hit that water, and lightly threw it back. Kat caught it and muttered "Alright! I get the message."

The Nightmare sighed herself, a strange sound coming from a creature in the form of a transparent horse. **_How is Kunihiko?_**

"Fine. He's been following Bane around. Firenze doesn't want him near the herd, but he can get the little he needs from Bane. And Bane could use the company."

**_Have you been spending time with that no-account centaur? _** B'cat'd'goth'et-chi demanded. **_You know Firenze will kick you out if they smell him on you!_**

"No, I haven't. I not that stupid; Bane doesn't even like me," Kat shook her head as they came to the edge of the lake. "Look, Nightmare, I'm in a rotten mood. Between the awful weather – couldn't it just snow?! – and some of the things that have been going on with the Ministry, I'm not in the mood for company. Even yours."

**_Alright. Lady of the Dream Realms, any Nightmare could understand time to yourself. Stay on the grounds, Kitten. And if you go into the Forbidden Forest, take something you know with you. Not _every_ magical creature likes you at first sight._**

"That's right; I've been meaning to ask you. Why . . ." when Kat turned to face the Nightmare, she had vanished. Kat shrugged, deciding that it wasn't worth summoning B'cat'd'goth'et-chi back to ask her.

_Why do magical creatures like me, and why aren't I heavily effected by them?_

The ghost of a mermaid singing drifted up through the lake, and Kat shivered. _One more day till everyone leaves for winter break. Then I'll get some time to myself_.


End file.
